In May, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that 37 athletes from 11 countries would compete in the Paris Games as part of the Refugee Olympic Team. This team, created for the Rio Olympics in 2016, symbolises hope and draws attention to the plight of refugees worldwide.

For the first time, the team includes Cubans: Fernando Dayan Jorge, a gold medalist in the 1,000-meter canoe sprint in Tokyo 2020, and weightlifter Ramiro Mora, currently residing in the United States and Great Britain, respectively.

Since May, Cuba has opposed their inclusion, stating that the IOC made a mistake by “mixing oil with vinegar” as these athletes were not persecuted or uprooted but chose to emigrate.

The Cuban Olympic Committee's official statement on Tuesday said, “Unfortunately, one of the two athletes included has made disrespectful and fallacious political statements against his country, his people and the sports movement that allowed him to be Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020.”

While the statement did not name the athlete, the canoeist has been vocally critical of the Cuban government since leaving his delegation in Mexico to cross the border and settle in the United States.

“The COC is obliged to publicly report this situation and demand the immediate expulsion of the aforementioned athlete from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, according to the rules that govern the International Olympic Movement,” the statement continued. “None of these Cuban athletes are uprooted by war or persecuted.”